H-Town Welcomes Hillary

my girl hillary was in town this past weekend and spoke to a crowd of nearly 1,100 supporters at the cwa union hall. it was my first experience hearing a presidential candidate speak in person and she didn't disappoint.

i'm so excited about the prospect of hill being my president that i had to fight back tears several times saturday morning. just seeing her - in her now famous coral-colored jacket - makes me hope that someday i can say i witnessed a small part of history.

ready for change. ready to lead.

this is the campaign slogan you see at a hillary event. it's brilliant in its simplicity and how well it sums up why she is the best candidate for president.

ready for change: read any coverage concerning the 2008 presidential election and everyone says this is a "change" election. everyone is ready to put the past 6 1/2 years behind them. so, it's easy to make this a centerpiece of any campaign. "i promise change." obama is running as a "change" candidate. hell, romney is running as a change candidate (but i think he sees it more as he'll keep changing his views until you like what he says). it is a simple component of anyone's campaign slogan and stump speech and even hillary has adopted it. but it's the second part of this slogan that puts hillary ahead of the rest.

ready to lead: i truly believe that hillary could easily step into the white house tomorrow and lead the country. she is intelligent, passionate, compassionate and has the experience to make her the best candidate. it is this claim that she is "ready to lead" that makes her the best qualified person to step in as the 44th president. obama cannot claim "ready to lead" as readily and hill's camp knows this. of course they would use it. and it is this combination of a desire for change and the experience to lead that makes the campaign slogan so powerful.

48 stars

at the event on saturday, hillary talked about the pentagon scuffle and the cronyism of the bush administration. she talked about the need for health care and a better education system. she talked about everything she has been talking about and i loved to hear it all. i could have listened to her for hours. but it was another story she told that really hit home with me and the audience.....

hillary concluded the event with a story madeleine albright used to tell her. back in 1995, albright had been asked to represent the united states at the 50th anniversary of the end of world war II in europe. with her family's past in europe and their history of having to escape the nazis, albright was honored to attend. she spent much of her time behind what was previously called "the iron curtain." in eastern europe she was amazed to see so many american flags waving - all of which has 48 stars. she asked people about the flags and they all told her when the americans came to liberate europe in 1945 - they handed out flags to villagers. remember, in 1945 alaska and hawaii were not yet states (thus, 48 stars). then she wondered how they all still had these flags and she was told that they were passed down from generation to generation, like family heirlooms. "but why?" albright kept asking. "because we love america," they would respond. "we love what america stands for."

imagine these villagers - risking possible retribution in the old soviet block for having an american flag.... and passing this flag down through generations of family members. all because - they love america.

we no longer have this same standing in the world. 6 1/2 years of bush and cheney and rove have destroyed the world's view of america and americans.

now......i've never been a rah, rah, rah, U!-S!-A! kinda guy. but wouldn't it be nice to be respected in the world again? considered a partner and an ally as opposed to how the world views us under bush? once again looked at in a positive light because of our views and compassion for all countries?

hillary promises to restore our standing in the world. she has worked with so many world leaders she already has relationships built up across the globe. in other words....

hillary is ready for change. she is ready to lead.

e.